it)'^ 




AN ADDRESS 




BY 



J. T^. FORA.KER. 

(late captain u. s. a.) 
Graduate Member of New York Alpha, 



AND 

a poem 

BY 

n.. 3^. IF' I E3 Xji I> , 

Graduate Member of Missouri Alpha, 
REFortE TrTu: g^. ^v. o. 

OF THE 



m 



f 



^ 




,^ 



gONVENED AT ^OLUMBUS, #HIO, 
August 19th and 20th, 1874. 



-♦« ^t^i 




VALLEY SENTINEL, NEWSPAPER AND JOB OFFICE, ^^ 

CARLISLE, PA. ^"" 




j^-^ 



f 






r 



AN ADDRESS 




BY 



J. B. FOR^KER, 

(late captain u. s. a.) 
Graduate Member of New York Alpha, 



AND 

A POEM 

BY 

X=t. IM- TE^ I E: Xj J3 , 

Graduate Member of Missouri Alpha, 

BElFOHi: TTTE: G!-, a. c 

OF THE 




mm Bsi Braternitj 



v^ONYENED AT ^^OLUMBUS, 6h10, 
August loth aud 20th, 1874. 




VALLEY SENTINEL, NEWSPAPER AND JOB OFFICE, 
CARLISLE, PA. 




'% 

I 



Address 



GentlEiMEN : 

Generally speaking, I despise apologies, and dislike to 
to deal in them. It is therefore only a feeling of the 
strongest justification that impels me to offer one for the 
remarks which I am about to make. 

My apology is a rather common one, being that of a 
lack of time for proper preparation. 

This may appear to you, gentlemen, to be a rather 
lame excuse when you call to mind that this honorable 
duty was imposed upon me tk?re jears ago. And I 
must admit that it does seem so at first thought. But 
my escape from that conclusion lies in the fact that there 
have been a great many thoughts in the premises. 

Thinking is generally a most excellent preliminary to 
this kind of ^an undertaking, but too much thinking has 
been the trouble in the present instance. As, for exam- 
ple, my first thought vv^as to postpone preparation until a 
reasonable time before the meeting of the Grand Arch 
Council. And that thought I approved and acted upon 
from economical considerations, in order thdt if by 
reason of death or from any other cause, 1 shonld be 
unable to put in an appearance upon this occasion there 
might be no labor lost. 

This idea carried me over at least two years of the 
time, and brought me down to the days of the Credit 
Mobilier, Back Salary, Third Termism, and other novel 
and cheerful ideas — days in which the whole people 
seemed to live in breathless suspense, existing from hour 
to hour, apparently, only to learn by what new thing 
under the sun and the Constitution of the United States 
we were next to be astounded and instructed, 

Knowing that there could be nothing in an address so 
acceptable diS freshness, and, on the contrary, nothing so 
objectionable as tLe absence of it, I could not, of course, 
undertake to write under anv such a condition of 



i 



^ 



-^^^ 




things, and so, Very naturally, concluded to wait until I 
could discuss the latest astonishment. 

But just when, in my opinion, the proper theme and 
the proper time had both arrived, my good intentions of 
instantly availing myself of them were again hindered. 
For, lo ! then it was that the Universe got out of fix, 
and a comet appeared, bearing straight down upon us, 
and with an angry, flaming tail standing high up in mid 
air, imparting to the heavens a frightful illumination that 
inspired us poor, wicked creatures, conscious of how 
richly we merited it, with a ready credence in the astro- 
nomical prophesies of swift approaching destruction to 
the earth and the inhabitants thereof 

While, therefore, the very atmosphere was rife with 
novel and absorbing events, suitable for discussion upon 
this, or any other occasion, yet who, I should like to 
know, could expect a mati in the enjoyment of his 
senses, and possessed of an educated appreciation of 
astronomical possibilities, to sit down and prepare a great 
literary effort while conscious that he was whirling 
through space at the rate of millions of miles a day to 
a collision by which we were, "Phi Kaps," and all, to be 
shattered, shivered, and burnt into annihilation? 

I am quite certain that the situation afforded me no 
encouragement. Therefore I again determined on a 
postponement ; this time until after the crisis had been 
passed, in order that if "worse came to worst," my last 
moments should not be embittered by the inconsolable 
grief which the destruction of an unborn speech would 
occasion, or, if passed safely, that I mignt be able to 
write in the light of a new experience, and tell you how 
things looked, and how people talked on the other side 
of the comet. 

Finally, the crisis was passed — but just when, or how, 
nobody, so far as I am aware, can definitely state. But 
I do know, that when I became fully assured that 
"Coggia" had indeed ''flickered^' and that we could 
again draw a long breath, quit counting our beads, and. 



% 



G) 



with impunity, go to cheating one another again, as 
formerly, this 19th day of August was already in sight, 
hurriedly crowding upon the tew days that yet intervened 
before its full arrival. And thus it was that I was 
unwittingly reduced to the necessity of almost indecent 
haste in the preparation for the discharge of this import- 
ant duty, which of itself was sufficiently disastrous, to 
say nothing ol the discouraging influences upon my 
mental faculties while so engaged of the great and 
grievous disappointment of no collision, no shattering, 
no cremation, no destruction of anything ; no new 
experience, no new thoughts, no new visions; the same 
people about us, the same fields before us, the same 
earth under us, the same heavens above us, and the 
same stars shining down upon us ; the immutability of 
the hills and the swiftness and certainty of death as 
apparant and as oppressive as ever. In the language of 
the CincLunatti Commercial, "it was sad." 

1 make these statements by way of an explanation of 
my apology. I hope they will suffice. They may have 
been unnecesary. Vi so, no matter. You know how it 
is yourselves. 

These facts will explain to you also, without further 
statement, how it is that I shall not be able to parade 
before you, on this interesting occasion, dear old Socra- 
tes, Xenophon, Democritus, Romulus, Cicero, Cincin- 
natus, Mirabeau, Wallenstein, Napoleon, Christopher 
Columbus, or any of the rest of our mutual friends of 
College days, lor you cannot help ob.serving that I didn't 
have time to go alter them. 

I know that the offense is, nevertheless, unpardonable, 
and do not therefore, expect, or even ask, entire forgive- 
ness, but I do hope that you may allow your reason to 
sufficiently assert itself to, in some slight degree, mollify 
your just indignation. 

I make this appeal in greater confidence for the reason 
that throughout the College world this is the season of 
vacation, and always has been such, and therefore a time 




when our aforesaid friends ordinarily, and with much 
show of reason, expect rest and quiet, and a time, there- 
fore, at which, all other things being favorable, desiring 
as I do to maintain amicable and confidential relations 
with those gentlemen I should very much distrust the 
propriety of disturbing them. 

Next to these old heathen I know of nobody to talk 
about so deserving as ourselves, and therefore, inasmuch 
as we are conveniently at hand, I see no good reason 
why we should not do ourselves that honor, especially so 
since no one else is likely to pay us any such compli- 
ment. 

And first, gentlemen, I would speak with you a little 
while as Phi Psis and as members of the Grand Arch 
Council. 

You are here to-day for a purpose. You are here as 
the representatives of the active, working members of 
the fraternity ; the men who are now in College opera- 
ting the machinery by which the organization is carried 
on ; the men who are soliciting and securing recruits for 
the places which they are themselves soon to vacate. 
You are here to consider for them in what manner the 
welfare and interests of the fraternity, in so far as the 
machinery and management thereof are concerned, can 
be best subserved and promoted. 

The responsibility of proper action in the premises 
rests wholly with you. Whether there be much, or little, 
or anything, to be done by you, I do not know. So far 
as my duty here is concerned it is not for me to even 
enquire. 

From what I have been able to learn of the various 
Chapters I am convinced that the order is in safe hands ; 
that you are wide awake, intelligent, devoted, and flying 
your colors high^ in every way worthy the trust you 
hold. Consequently I doubt the propriety of even a 
suggestion from me as to your action here ; nevertheless 
what I do say will be spoken in the freest manner, know- 
ing as I do that it will be received by you, as it will be 




spoken by me, kindly, and for what it way be worth ; 
after the manner of the communications of one brother 
to another. 

Those of us who preceeded you in the discharge of 
the duties that have devolved upon you did the best we 
knew how, and did, we thought then, and still think, 
much toward perfecting the government of the society. 

Notwithstanding, we passed the trust over to our suc- 
cessors conscious that we might have done better, know- 
ing, or at least thinking we knew, of defects in our or- 
ganic law which might and ought to be remedied. 

For our short comings we must, and do, assume all 
blame that attaches. 

We had our excuses then, and we have our apologies 
now. But as to all these matters it would be only a 
waste of time to speak in detail. They may have been, 
long ere this, cured or they may not have been viewed 
by any of our successors as by us. My object is only to 
refer in a general way to the fact, and that for the pur- 
pose merely of informing you that your predecessors did 
not think when they were giving place to you that they 
had absolutely perfected this institution, and that as to 
you, nothing more was expected than that you would 
enjoy its benefits, and just as you had received it, even so 
hand it down to others. Far other wise did we regard 
this matter. We knew that even the sun had his spots ; 
much more all things thereunder, and that the laws and 
government of our fraternity, being the work of men, 
were notwithstanding they were Phi Psi men, necessari- 
ly more or less imperfect. Consequently we expected, 
and still expect, you to make changes, and we shall ex- 
pect those who shall come after you to do likewise. — 
Therefore while cautioning you against inconsiderate and 
unnecessary change in any of the fundamental laws of 
the society ; and while invoking your respect for that 
which has the sanction of age and usage I would never- 
theless say let not your hands be tied by any such things. 

The very object of your mission here is to see that 
what is right shall remain so ; that what is not right shall 





be made so. The world is progressing, and as long as 
it continues to do so there will be abundant evidences of 
it in the manner in which adaptability to the growing 
wants and ideas of society will require the change and 
displacement of things about which hangs the charm of 
age and veneration. 

So that as a representative of the former ages of Phi 
Psi's, I would say to you, here, to-day, that while we are 
each and all proud of our respective contributions to the 
laws and general government of the order, and therefore 
anxious to see them stand as parts and parcel of that 
government, yet we ask that they may do so only con- 
sistently with your ideas of the best interests of the fra- 
ternity — our love for which overrides all selfish claims 
and personal gratifications. 

We are not, however, without our demands. For 
while recognizing your right and duty to so change the 
laws and rules as to promote the welfare of the fraternity, 
we do so upon the sole ground that we have the right to 
expect, and do expect, and demand, that the fraternity, 
itself, in spirit, in object, in influence and in reputation 
be preserved every whit whole. 

I know I thought when in College, and I expect you 
now think, you appreciate the importance of this. 

But I come to you to-day as one who has enjoyed the 
experience which you are now enjoying, and as one who 
has carried the influence of that experience out from the 
College walls into the struggles and strifes of life. 

We are perhaps equally acquainted with the worth to 
us of our fraternity as students, but only those of us 
who have experienced it can understand the beneficent 
influences of this relation in the life that succeeds the 
College life. 

Only those who have experienced it can have any 
adequate idea of how sweetly, grandly, and proudly will 
resurrect themselves in one's memory bringing peafce and 
quiet to the troubled mind, teaching the heart its always 
noble duty, where the way is not plain, and lending 
strength to withstand and overcome when the soul is 








7 

tempted, those quiet, modest, but diamond-like words, 
'^ Never forget that you are a member of the Phi Kappa 
Psi Fraternity!' 

The good influence of these words is not owing to 
any intrinsic merit or beauty which they possess as such, 
but to the fact that their recall is the hoisting of the 
flood-gate through which is poured in upon the soul a 
tide of memories dear, duties gentle, and lessons grand. 
Because they revive the spirit of development, christian 
kindliness and general nobleness of character which 
constitutes the great aim of the fraternity, and by which, 
in our associations, so much of strength and encourage- 
ment are mutually imparted to one another. 

And such must ever be the necessary result of our 
fraternal relations where, in admitting new members, and 
in the general conduct and management of the chapter, 
the spirit and aims of the order are the only guide. 

It was by a strict adherence to these cardinal ideas 
that our founders placed us upon a sure footing in the 
outset, and by the power and character which a similar 
adherence gathered unto our name, that our banner has 
been going forward ever since, and must hereafter con- 
tinue to triumph. And it is because she taught us these 
things, and imbued us with these aspirations, that we 
cherish the memory of Phi Kappa Psi to-day. 

I conjure you, therefore, to appreciate the fact that we 
are in earnest when we demand that the fraternity shall 
live ; we demand it as due to us ; as due to yourselves ; 
as due to the thousands of students who are to succeed 
you, and as due to the world in which we are all alike to 
labor. 

Your duty in this regard is not, and never was intended 
to be, a mere College pastime. Its objects are higher. 
It means the symmetrical development of the whole of 
one's good nature. It means men; men in the highest 
sense of the woroi; men who will go out from College 
to the battles of life with an honesty of purpose, an 
appreciation of right, and a power for good that will 
make the world better for their having lived in it. Hence 





8 

it is not sufificient that our name merely shall live. We 
demand that you preserve it. in all its glory, in all its 
purity, in all its beauty, in all its significance. 

To this end we admonish you to admit no one into 
our house who is not willing and worthy to do the ap- 
pointed work ; that in your associations and every day 
walk and life you practice toward the world and one 
another those elemental virtues which the frat ^rnity en- 
joins ; that you be diligent, earnest, brave, honest and 
God-fearing ; a credit to yourselves, an honor to your so- 
ciety, a gain to the world ; that you may leave behind 
you an instrument of increased power for the same good 
to others, and carry with you down the roadway of life 
the recollections and influences of an association that 
will make the mind brighter, the heart warmer, and the 
soul nobler, as you pass on to eternity. 

So much, gentlemen, concerning your duties toward 
Phi Psi while actively related to your respective chapters. 
But as you owe her allegiance forever, so do you also 
forever owe her a duty. 

When you step out upon the theatre of active life 
your duty does not cease; it merely changes character. 
You are then enjoined to practice the virtues which have 
been inculcated in the thousands of varying circum- 
stances of life. The tree is known by the fruit. What 
you make of yourselves as men reflects accordingly upon 
the fraternity. If wantonly a failure, blight, disappoint- 
ment and discouragement. 

If a success ; if you round out into that full grown 
manhood to which you are expected to attain you 
become an ornament for exultation and pride; your 
example a model — your influence a safeguard. 

And yet, gentlemen, notwithstanding the high appre- 
ciation which I express for these benefits and the 
earnest exhortations which I would make for their 
preservation and promotion, I would remind you that 
"it is not all of life to live, nor all of death to die" as a 
Phi Psi. For, after all, the fraternity is but a subordinate 
instrumentality of which to avail yourselves as a com- 






^ 



plement to your other means of development and culture. 
There are higher duties in College, and higher aims 
in life. To be first good students, and afterward, good 
citizens. We all know that while it may not always be 
entirely agreeable, yet it is always both possible and 
profitable to be good students. To be good citizens is 
just as profitable and just as possible. 

You will find many ready to dispute this proposition. 
They will plausibly argue that the world is full of bad 
people; that lying, cheating, and evil generally, are 
everywhere prevalent and that, therefore, on the principle 
that "you must fight the devil with fire," it is impossible 
to succed save by the use of like instrumentalities. But 
I warn you to be not deceived thereby. I will undertake 
to say that nine times out of ten the man who advances 
this character of argument is stating not so much what 
his honest experience and observation have taught him 
as he is making an apology for his own misguided con- 
duct. 

I know there is much evil abroad in the land. I know 
the temptations thereto are thickly strewn along every 
man's pathway. I know they are inviting and not to be 
overcome without watchfulness and effort. Yet notwith- 
.standing, I am fully persuaded, from what I have been 
able to learn about it, that the poor old world, while, to 
be sure, not anything like so good as we would have 
made it, had we, instead of the Almighty, performed 
the job, is nevertheless, a great deal better than com- 
monly supposed. 

I meet with a great many people that I think ought 
to be killed; and I see and hear of a great many trans- 
actions which I think ought never to have occurred, 
and, still, when I calmly reflect and consider, I can 
usually figure up about as much propriety in the 
continued existence of the common run of mankind as 
in my own — and seldom find it difficult to discover 
sufficient good to counterbalance whatever evil I may 
chance to meet. 








lO 

And not only do I think the world better than com- 
monly accredited, but I also think it is better to-day than 
it was yesterday. I think we are better than our fathers, 
and not so good as our children will be. 

In other words I think the world is surely and steadily 
growing wiser and better. And my faith in this belief 
has not been disturbed the slightest by the exposures 
of corruption, immorality and wickedness, which the 
recent eruptions in the political, social and religious 
worlds have occasioned. 

When Sir Francis Bacon basely bartered away the 
high honor of the great office of Lord Chanceller of 
England, humiliation, mortification and disgust, sickened 
every true heart throughout that proud realm. It was 
with dismay and sorrow that the world heard how one, 
apparently so strong and great, had proved so weak and 
little, and from such exalted highness, had fallen to such 
profound infamy, and wheresoever the story was told 
confidence in humanity proportionately weakened. But 
when the strong arm of the people was raised and found 
sufficient despite his mighty genius and influence to 
humble and bring to shame the great disgracer, and to 
strip him of the accumulations of his robberies, confi- 
dence in humanity revived, and grew stronger than ever, 
for thereby it was demonstrated that not mankind had 
retrograded, but that only one poor, weak, public servant 
had abused his trust. 

And that which at first seemed to be such a distress- 
ing and demoralizing calamity proved but an exigency 
to call forth an exhibition of how much true progress 
had really been made, and, by the gratifying results 
thereof to lend a thrill of encouragement and hope to 
quicken the pace of mankind onward. And what I have 
said of the case of Bacon might with equal propriety be 
said of hundreds of similar cases upon the results of 
which we can now calmly look back and dispassionately 
judge. And so too with the discovery and punishment 
of our own faithless servants. Instead of becoming 
discouraged thereby, with our institutions and progress. 



1 1 

let us rather take cheer from the almost unexampled 
manifestations of virtue by which our people have been 
found able to turn their backs upon their idols — rebuking 
sin and encourageing righteousness. One of the most 
profitable lessons that our American people have ever 
learned is that no man can rise high enough, or strongly 
enough hedge himself about by influences, in State or 
Church, party or creed, to escape accountability to our 
common public for his every day walk and life. 

There are those however, and you are hearing from 
them at this time, who question that any good comes 
from this accountability. 

When their idol has fallen entirely below the horizoii 
toward which he is now rapidly sinking, and has been 
a little while out of sight, and their grief has somewhat 
abated, they will see more clearly, and then be able, 
perhaps, to agree with us, that while it is always a sad 
and sorrowful sight to see a great man fall, yet, it is 
always an infinitely worse thing to see him, undeservedly, 
stand. Falling, we are grieved, but impressively re- 
minded that "the wages of sin is death." Standing, 
they are only stumbling blocks over which better men 
fall out of the paths to honor, usefulness, and life ever- 
lasting. 

Yes, gentlemen, I rejoice that there is nothing in the 
condition of the world, when rightly considered, to 
afford any inducement whatever to a man seeking suc- 
cess in any of the honorable callings of life to lose sight 
for a moment of a single virtue; that on the contrary 
the world is generally disposed to treat people quite as 
well as they treat themselves, paying a premium always 
for straight forward earnestness and uprightness ; 
that "honesty is the best policy" to-day as much as ever, 
and that none question it save those who are disinclined 
to practice it ; that all the world demands is fair treat- 
ment ; that you will not expect to get something for 
nothing, but be willing to give value received; that you 
be earnest, honest, industrious, concentrated in your 
efforts, and willing to labor wheresoever your lot casts 



-^€=T- 





12 

you. You may not be able to step at once into as green 
pastures as you think you deserve to graze. Few men 
ever have. But no true Hfe was ever Hved in vain. — 
Sooner or later, here or hereafter, the reward has come, 
and proved only the richer for the withholding. And I 
know of no better service I can render you than to urge 
you to think well of mankind ; to step out into the world 
with a positive tread, tnistmg Rnd not distrusting \ to take 
up the labors of life contentedly; not because of an idea 
that you are to sweep everything before you in an unin- 
terrupted triumphal march, but simply because you are 
determined to pursue the pathway of duty, and not 
depart therefrom, no matter whether it lead you low in 
the valley or high on the hi!l, keeping constantly in view 
the bright and beautiful things and, recognizing no 
measure of conduct that does not accord with true 
nobility and genuine manhood. 

You may not gather wealth — you may not get fame. 
Many worldly desires may be disappointed, but your 
mind will know a serenity, your heart a sunshine and 
your soul an assurance compared with which all the 
riches and honors of the world are but the merest baubles. 

Not so, however, because you will have no trials or 
storms to pass through, but because you will have the 
anchor of safety always at hand. For to live the manner 
of life indcated you will not escape conflict with your 
fellows. While our paths lie naturally independent of 
each other, so as to admit of travel withoiit the necessity 
of interference, yet there are always those who, like a 
comet in the heavens, have jumped the track, so to 
speak, and are flying , about promiscously, clashing, 
interfering and knocking things out of joint generally. 

These erratic creatures are not to be yielded to ; they 
must be resisted and restrained. If, figuratively speak- 
ing, you receive a punch in your ribs, call a halt, and 
consider where you are. 

If, unconsciously, you have strayed out of your path, 
thank the man who has brought you to your senses and 
instantly right yourself But if, on the other hand, you 



^ 
W 



-^ 



have the right to the track, and the colHsion has been 
occasioned by the wrongful act of the other party, and 
he do not at once make proper reparation, set him down 
for a comet and straightway punch him in return — not 
in the same manner, perhaps, nor in a spirit of vindic- 
tiveness, but with the weapons suppHed by the constitu- 
tion and government of society and for society's general 
good ; to teach the wrong doer a proper respect for the 
rights of others, and to prevent his being encouraged by 
a success with you to like imposition on others ; to put 
him back into his proper place and thus preserve the 
harmony as much as possible. Trouble may overtake 
you, too, from not being always understood — for the 
world is sometimes blinded and made to do unintentional 
wrong. 

You may be unjustly censured. You may be in 
advance of other people, and from that position, or by 
reason of better information, be able to view a question 
in such a light as to require a dissent upon your part 
from the views commonly entertained with reference 
thereto. Don't, in any such case, seek to avoid censure 
and criticism by abusing your superior opportunities and 
destroying your selfrespect in an outward approval of 
the erroneous views of the many. But boldly and 
unhesitatingly speak and maintain your own sentiments. 
The most disgusting, demoralizing and discouraging 
feature of entire political system is the abominable 
demagoguery to the practice of which by so many of 
our public men it seems to give out inducement. 

Truckling to popular sentiment may, quite frequently, 
be much more agreeable than the opposite course, and 
it may often be attended with immediate apparent 
adv^antage, but the man who reaps advantage and enjoys 
honors through the practice of weathercockism drives 
selfrespect out of his heart and nobility out of his nature 
by the introduction of the corroding consciousness that 
he is but a thief and a false pretense. So that the 
apparent gain is but a canker in the soul to bear contin- 
ual testimonv of the base littleness from whence it came. 



r 



H 



On the other hand it always requires more or less of 
courage and sacrifice to withstand public opinion, but 
there is no attribute of our natures more ennobling to 
the individual practicing it, or for which mankind have 
a higher admiration than they have- for that same 
courage and sacrifice which a true man will display in 
such an emergency. Though he be a reputed spoon 
stealer, a Salary Grabber, or a 'what not' if he give a 
reason for the faith that is in him, and openly, honestly 
and fearlessly espouse his doctrines, "uncaring conse- 
quences," while he may be abused, maligned and black- 
guarded by those w^hom his course has particularly 
chagrined, he will, nevertheless, by the better and more 
considerate class of people, be respected, trusted and 
honored while he lives and missed and mourned when 
he dies. 

To be good citizens implies something more, too, than 
proper deportment toward our fellows, and uprightness, 
positiveness and truthfulness of character. As such we 
owe imperative and important duties toward our general 
government ;• to serve it, and to preserve it. We owe 
many duties conducive to these objects. I shall speak 
of but one. I speak of it because I conceive it to be 
one of the most important of all, and because I know 
strong influences are quite frequently brought to bear 
upon young men starting in life to ignore it altogether. 

It is the duty of every man, no matter what his calling 
in life may be, to actively interest and engage himself in 
the politics of the country. 

"Let politics alone," is an injunction almost invariably, 
but always most foolishly and inconsiderately, sounded 
in the ears of the graduate as he takes his leave of his 
College instructors. "Let politics alone," they say, for 
there it is that bad men control and bad influences 
predominate. 

In this democratic country of ours every man is 
charged with a voice in the government. This govern- 
ment has to do directly with the vital interests of our 
own thirty-odd millions of people. It has a positive 



dp 



& 



influence upon all the other gov^ernnients and peoples of 
the world. 

Our object is the highest and happiest development 
possible of the intellectual and moral man, so far as the 
government has to do therewith. No nobler work lies 
before any man than to see that this good undertaking 
does not come to nought; that upon every influence 
that we radiate there may go out to all who shall feel it 
the sunshine of encouragement. This is not the w^ork 
of us as a people, merely, but it is the work of each and 
every individual citizen. 

The due performance of our individual parts is a 
responsibility for which we must respectively account. 
Therefore if the wicked and unfaithful are put into 
power, and the great work be hindered, and disaster and 
downfall overtake us, it will be no excuse for any man 
that with the political management of the country he 
was not concerned. For his concern therewith is anv- 
thing else rather than a mere privilege. It is an imper- 
ative and miOst solemnly responsible duty; and if the 
reason commonly assigned for the non-performance of 
that duty be correct, then I can think of no stronger 
to urge why we should pursue a directly opposite course. 

If bad men, and bad influences, and evil measures are 
allowed to control, it is simply because we have slept on 
guard and been criminally unmindful of the highest 
duties with which we stand charged as American 
citizens. This is our comm.on government ; we are a 
sort of mutual stock company — we are equal contribu- 
tors to, and equally responsible for, our laws, officers, 
and political machinery and management. If these be 
satisfactory we have done our duty, otherwise not; and 
the man who has stood aloof, misguidedly imagining 
that his duties were only privileges, and that he was too 
virtuous to take a hand in the game whereby the result 
was wrought has a sin of omission for which to answer 
scarcely less condemnatory than is the offense of him 
who has actively contributed to the wrong. 

No ! Let your aim be rather to have all to do with 





i6 

politics, both understanding and controlling. And the 
better a man is the stronger the reason becomes, for the 
better class of our people are the very men, above all 
others, who should control such matters. And if bad 
men and evil influences have possessed the politics of 
the country it is high time to sound the alarm, and 
instead of counseling "hands off," with a sort of long 
roll beat summon all to the rescue. And it is especially 
the duty of all who are favored with the advantages of 
superior mental training and education. 

For our surest safety in politics lies in the exercise of 
honesty and intelligence in the formation and presenta- 
tion of public questions. 

Honesty that the people may not be misguided by 
false issues. Intelligence that the real, issues may be 
stripped of all fictitious features and be presented to the 
common mind in their true light. 

When honest and pure men who have educated and 
disciplined their minds will take the trouble to study 
the political questions of the day, and then to assist in 
the instruction of the masses with regard thereto, and 
to join hands in an earnest, determined and common 
effort to secure honest and true representatives of the 
principles involved we can have some assurance of both 
respectability in politics and safety and prosperity in 
government. 

But if the field is to be abandoned to those who have 
no other profession than to possess it, and no other aim 
than personal gain, woe indeed is the republic, and the 
calamitous sin of the fall thereof will shortly be visited 
upon us. 

And now gentlemen, as I somewhat abruptly close, 
permit me to say that my object has been not simply to 
impress upon your minds the idea that you are to live 
in an age of earnest activity and progress and that to 
make life a success you must expect to work accordingly, 
for of this we are continally reminded. But rather that 
andnotwithsting the shame and 'disgrace and shortcom- 
ings, by which, in these latter days, we have been so 



^ 




1/ 

frequenth' astounded and n:ortificd, there is not onl)- 
much, but I think more of good in the world than e\-2r 
before, and that consequently, in the lives which you arc 
to live, no true success can be attained, any more than 
in any life ever heretofore spent, save by a constant 
adherence to the everlasting principles of morality. 



That the world is good enough to 



give you a fair 



trial, and just enough to crown all who labor with 
integrity and ability with a proper reward. And that, 
as a band of brothers, in some measure obligated by 
reason of our relations to accomplish the most that in 
us lies for our common as well as individual, good there 
is a special duty resting upon us to, in all things, as 
men, as citizens, as Phi Kappa Psis, strive constantly 
for the highest excellency. 



FORSiTAX p:t hapx.meminissp: juvabit. 



lo: 



(Originally read at the fifth Annual Symposium of the 
Missouri Alpha of the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, Co- 
lumbia, June 22nd, 1874, and composed by R. AI. Field, 
of Saint Louis. 

Phi Psi ; what nobler, grander theme 

Can poet ask, or minstrel sing ? 
What fairer visions in a dream 

Of bygone days can fancy bring ? 
As sweet to mortals when they part, 

Is friendship's hallowed sacred tie; 
So dear to ever}- brother's heart 



Are thoughts of thee our own Phi 



Psi. 





i8 

The lessons which thou taught'st us all 

Our talismans in worldly strife, 
Have sent us from the college hall, 

With higher nobler aims in life. 
Not that we live for self alone, 

Unmindful of a brother's cry; 
But that we give their hands our own, 

Has been thy lesson, dear Phi Psi ! 

Thou taught'st us to contend for fame, 

To work our way in honor's van ; 
To win as fair and bright a name. 

As ever yet was borne by man. 
But while we strove that name to find, 

And eagerly pressed-to the goal, 
Thou warned'st us cultivate the irfind. 

But not neglect the heart, the soul. 

And have we learned that lesson well. 

As years pass by in lengthening chain, 
Can any of her children tell, 

The old, old lesson once again? 
Ah ! let us, if to-night we may. 

Assembled in our chapter hall, 
Go through our lives of yesterday, 

With love for each and love for all. 

Though different be the paths we tread. 

And severed wide by land or sea ; 
Though northern winds blow round your head, 

And sunnier skies have charms for me ; 
We may forget that we are men. 

Forget all toil and care and strife ; 
And heart with heart pass through again, 

Those halcyon days of college life. 

Though you may have all wealth can give. 

And I with lesser gifts am blest : 
Though I in princely courts may live, 

While you in humbler dwellings rest: 



^ 



I 




19 

No matter where our lot is cast, 

The times will come when winds recall 

The sunny days of years long past, 

And forms that thronged each college hall. 

What matter, that the world may show 

How crude were all our boyish schemes ! 
What matter that we learn to know 

Of music's grandest, noblest themes ! 
In fancy oft we seem to hear 

The airs that spirit voices raise 
Come floating back to memory's ear, 

The dear old songs of college days. 

And that has been thy own good deed, 

Thou mother to our little band. 
To plant in us the ripening seed 

Of gratitude to thy wise hand ; 
To teach us that the days long past, 

The days of college sport and song 
May still be with us, still may last 

To throw their beams, our paths along. 

Ah ! nobler far in old Phi Psi, 

And gently let the words be said 
Is that great trait, when brothers die 

Her living ne'er forget her dead. 
The spirit land is but removed, 

A few swift strokes of Charon's oar, 
And those that loved us, those we loved 

W^atch o'er us from the better shore. 

Phi Psi, that sent her children out. 

Has bidden all return to-night. 
To ring the hall with joyous shout 

And glory in her rising might ; 
But thinking first of those, her sons, 

Whose spirit forms are hovering near, 
She whispers to the living ones 

That they too be remembered here. 



i 



20 

Ah! brothers; that Death's icy hand 

Should break into our chapter hall 
And bear off to that unknown land, 

The brightest, fairest of us all ; 
And we that pray for health and strength 

To long protract terrestrial strife, 
Should rather pray that all at length 

May meet them in the nobler life. 

But till our life-work here is done, 

Until our hands can do no more. 
Until we sit at setting sun 

And listen for old Charon's oar. 
Let us revere the dear old hall 

And work with mind and heart and soul 
God's blessing rest upon us all 

And speed us onward to the goal. 

To her whose lessons we have learned. 

Our gratitude shall always look, 
For'us whose laurels she has earned 

Her precepts fill her own good book. 
Where'er we roam, whate'er we do 

On her firm word we may rely; 
She will be always pure and true, 

Our cherished mother, dear Phi Psi ! 




i 




65 560 2 



